Boston College-bound Walsh moves on after standout sports career at WRHS

By John Orrell sports@thelandmark.com

Saturday

Jul 13, 2019 at 5:23 AM

STERLING — It’s often said that being in the right place at the right time can change one’s life for the better, and perhaps no one knows this more than Wachusett Regional High 2019 graduate Barry Walsh.

Walsh, of Sterling, will become a Boston College Eagle this fall, chosen and offered a scholarship to bring his skills to the NCAA Division 1 level where baseball is one of the school’s most highly revered sports. Just how Walsh was selected was fortuitous at best, as he describes it.

“They (BC) started recruiting me in my freshman year. One day I was just hitting in the cages at my travel ball place, and the BC coach happened to be there. He just happened to be there when I was hitting, and I guess I caught his eye. He asked my coach who I was and then we started talking. In sophomore year, things really picked up again, and eventually they made me an offer to come there.

“It was all very exciting. They called my house and talked to my mom first. Then she handed me the phone, and she said they wanted to offer me a scholarship to come play for them. They said they’d give me a week or two to decide, so I hung up and talked to my mom about it, then called them back 10 minutes later and said I wanted to play with them at BC.”

And so Walsh’s outstanding career at WRHS has concluded and a new chapter opens for the bulked-up, 6-foot-tall, 190 lb. athlete. While wearing the green and white, he competed in football as a wide receiver, reeling in four touchdowns and 224 receiving yards in his senior year.

But it will be baseball, where he has excelled through love of the sport. He concluded his final season with the Mountaineers racking up a solid .367 batting average to go along with an ERA of 2.21 and a record on the mound of 3-1 for the 2019 squad that finished at 17-7.

“His talent and upside are high. When he goes to BC, he’ll have more work to do, and he knows that,” said Mark Peters, WRHS baseball head coach. “He’s a smart kid, and he’s given us everything. He’s played for us since his freshman year and contributed in the playoffs since freshman year on. I think the world of Barry. The sky’s the limit for him.

“His teammates love him. Barry’s always in the mix. He doesn’t think any different of himself. He’s with everybody else, and they all have fun, too.”

Walsh has been motivated to compete and compete hard by older brother Patrick Walsh, who excelled in sports for Wachusett and is currently on the Harvard University football team. It was a healthy in-family rivalry that benefitted each sibling in different ways.

“Growing up with my brother made me be the competitive person I am,” Barry Walsh acknowledged. “My parents also encouraged us to be competitive people, and that’s where I get it from.”

Without hesitation, Walsh describes playing in the Super 8 baseball tournament twice as his greatest thrill in Wachusett sports. The experience will be one that he will forever treasure, having been a leader on a team that was selected as one of the best in Massachusetts.

“I’ve been fortunate to have been on the teams I’ve been on,” he said. “A lot of my close friends are on those teams. We’ve had a lot of good teams since I’ve been here, and I’ve been fortunate with that. I got to play with my brother, too, and that was great also.

“Staying focused is a big thing. A lot of guys you see with talent don’t focus enough, and it brings them down. Pushing yourself to be better makes a difference.”